alexbonidotnet
New member
Hey
I went to get the front tyres replaced on my motor the yesterday and seeing as Fiat will only fit P Zero Neros or Bridgestone Pretenders, both of which wear too quickly for my liking, to my car I took a gamble and went to my local HiQ (franchised).
This is where it gets weird; firstly, they were clowning around for a few minutes trying to get my car on the jacks, almost ripping the side skirts off in the process. Needless to say, not a great start. After getting the tyres off and fitting a new set of Falken ZE912s one of them called me over and showed me one of my rims on the wheel balancer. It wasn't true and had some very significant lateral movement even at a few RPM.
The mechanic was looking pretty pleased with himself and immediately went on about how the tyre was losing pressure already and wouldn't be safe to drive on and got quite pushy trying to sell me a new rim for £250 (the 17" mjet forked rims).
I pointed out that the car's handling and steering was fine and that surely I'd have noticed judder on the wheel. I then pointed out that there was no uneven wear on my old tyres and no flat spots or balding which should surely occur. He said that tyres would wear normally with a buckled wheel and you wouldn't necessarily feel it. Having buckled a front wheel before, I insisted I knew what it would feel like. I also pointed out that the tyres weren't losing any pressure, to which he said that the tyre was 'sealed' and so it wouldn't happen - but surely the new tyre was 'sealed' when he fitted it. It made the loud 'bang' as it was inflated...
Anyway, I paid up and left with him insisting I call him today to get the wheel fitted. On my way back I stopped at the petrol station to put the correct amount of air in the tyres (they massively under-inflated them ffs, basic fricken stuff). Just been there again today and the tyre is still inflated to the right pressure. Was this guy trying to pull a fast one or am I just being overly cautious? Just seems very odd to me.
I'll get my Bella booked in at my local Fiat to see if they can give me a definite answer, but I'm just not convinced a wheel that was so far from spinning true would be totally unnoticeable to the driver. The lateral movement was insane.
I went to get the front tyres replaced on my motor the yesterday and seeing as Fiat will only fit P Zero Neros or Bridgestone Pretenders, both of which wear too quickly for my liking, to my car I took a gamble and went to my local HiQ (franchised).
This is where it gets weird; firstly, they were clowning around for a few minutes trying to get my car on the jacks, almost ripping the side skirts off in the process. Needless to say, not a great start. After getting the tyres off and fitting a new set of Falken ZE912s one of them called me over and showed me one of my rims on the wheel balancer. It wasn't true and had some very significant lateral movement even at a few RPM.
The mechanic was looking pretty pleased with himself and immediately went on about how the tyre was losing pressure already and wouldn't be safe to drive on and got quite pushy trying to sell me a new rim for £250 (the 17" mjet forked rims).
I pointed out that the car's handling and steering was fine and that surely I'd have noticed judder on the wheel. I then pointed out that there was no uneven wear on my old tyres and no flat spots or balding which should surely occur. He said that tyres would wear normally with a buckled wheel and you wouldn't necessarily feel it. Having buckled a front wheel before, I insisted I knew what it would feel like. I also pointed out that the tyres weren't losing any pressure, to which he said that the tyre was 'sealed' and so it wouldn't happen - but surely the new tyre was 'sealed' when he fitted it. It made the loud 'bang' as it was inflated...
Anyway, I paid up and left with him insisting I call him today to get the wheel fitted. On my way back I stopped at the petrol station to put the correct amount of air in the tyres (they massively under-inflated them ffs, basic fricken stuff). Just been there again today and the tyre is still inflated to the right pressure. Was this guy trying to pull a fast one or am I just being overly cautious? Just seems very odd to me.
I'll get my Bella booked in at my local Fiat to see if they can give me a definite answer, but I'm just not convinced a wheel that was so far from spinning true would be totally unnoticeable to the driver. The lateral movement was insane.
